I’d like to call your attention to a series of video tutorials I did not that long ago as a donation to this community. They are all here and I’d like you to be aware of them. They are organized into modules, 2-10 minutes each. You can pick and choose and jump around, or run through them in the original order. They are here as a resource for you. (Note: the text in bold here highlights links to the videos)

If you own a home, and have 20-30% equity in it, then you may be able to get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) with a low interest rate. These funds are great to start a business, and can be used for any of your startup fees, including your franchise fees. With a HELOC you can get access to a lump sum immediately and draw against the total as you need it. Like a normal business line of credit, you only pay interest on what you’re using.

Most people spent *some* amount of money, even if it was just the cost of a $50 business license or a $10 domain name. But far more important than money was the investment of sweat equity -- taking the time to make something meaningful. Brett Kelly wrote Evernote Essentials, a guide to the free Evernote software. His initial goal was that it would make $10,000 over the course of a year. One year later, it had made more than $100,000. Initial startup costs were essentially zero.
Over 99 percent of all business entities in the US are small businesses, according to The SBA Loan Book: The Complete Guide to Getting Financial Help Through the Small Business Administration. These businesses represent over half of the private workforce and the private-sector output and over 40 percent of all private commercial sales in the United States.
For most business experts and established entrepreneurs, buying an existing franchise through franchise loans presents a lot of advantages not present if you opt to start your business from scratch. Purchasing a franchise, especially a popular one, enables you to start with a large and solid client base, a crucial element during the initial stages of a business venture. Another obvious benefit is that building up the brand does not take much effort in contrast to promoting a new business name.
Hashtag – The right hashtags can provide a boost to the visuals on Instagram. Be creative when it comes to hashtags. Try to come up with something that your followers would want to share. It’s best to avoid using just the name of your business as a hashtag. Instead, consider using a word or a phrase that captures your brand. Sprout Social lists some examples of how some big brands have successfully used hashtags.

Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If you are a company that conducts its business on the internet, it is important to have a terms of service agreement that limits what users can or cannot do on your website and with the information on your site. Closely related is your Privacy Policy, which sets forth what privacy protections are available to your users. The new European GDPR rules may also need to be addressed.

On the other hand, food trucks and vending machines are trends helping to mold the industry even though they are not new concepts. The consumer desire and such convenience have become overwhelming, thus inspiring a more innovative variety of food trucks and vending machines. Their market typically consists of business parks and buildings, transit areas, tourists spots, sporting, cultural, and other entertainment events, and tertiary education institutions. Thus, for example, the vending machine company named the Burrito Box, makes all their food off-site and franchises refill the contents daily. With this approach, consumers get the same quality of food that they would get out of fast-casual restaurants. As follows, the capital it would take to start up a company of this sort ranges from $50,000 to $250,000, but it all depends on how equipped the truck comes. Its also important to mention that since consumers have demanded more artisanal products, food businesses are investing in fresh and healthier ingredients and options. Which can be seen already with specialty sandwiches, locally sourced products, vending machines with healthier snacks, build your own concepts (assembly line formats, similar to Chipotle), and upscale versions of the basics. Either way, this model is becoming more popular, lucrative and assessable to entrepreneurs of all kinds.

Chris Guillebeau is a writer, entrepreneur, and traveler. His latest book, The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, is now a New York Times bestseller. During a lifetime of self-employment and ventures ranging from online publishing to volunteer work in West Africa, he has visited nearly every country on earth before the age of 35. Host of the World Domination Summit, an international gathering of creative people, Chris is focused on encouraging individual quests while also “giving back.” His main website, ChrisGuillebeau.com, is visited by more than 300,000 people a month.

Your place on the credit spectrum is one factor that will determine which loans you’ll qualify for. You can get your credit report for free from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — once a year. You can get your credit score for free from several credit card issuers as well as personal finance websites, including NerdWallet.